


Defying Expectations

by TinCanTelephone



Series: From Tumblr, With <3 [21]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: (on the original character), Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, CPR, F/M, Mission Fic, Near Drowning, Sarcasm, Swearing, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 17:05:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16769305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinCanTelephone/pseuds/TinCanTelephone
Summary: Sometimes Cassian acts like he doesn't trust Jyn.She's got a lot to say about it.





	Defying Expectations

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AstridMyrna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstridMyrna/gifts).



> For @thegiddyowl, whose prompt was “I have no idea how to do CPR”
> 
> This is almost definitely not what she was looking for but…… yeah I can't really defend myself in that regard :P

“ _Check in, Sergeant._ ″

“Target still not in sight,” Jyn muttered into her comm. “Since you asked three minutes ago.”

“ _Sergeant…_ ”

Jyn glared and used the click of the comm to spell out, _Back off_ in blink code.

Cassian had too much self control to reply, but she heard the start of a sigh before he turned off his mic. 

She was tempted to tap out a ruder message, but settled for taking another sip of tea, a local brew and utterly repulsive. Like Bodhi was always saying, she could _try_ to be a little sympathetic. 

It was probably killing Cassian that he couldn’t be in the field with her. The tiny city on Ord Mantell was only accessible by mountain trail, nestled on the shore of a lake between two ranges. As much as he argued otherwise, Jyn (and Bodhi and Mothma and Kalonia and Draven) had convinced him that the trek would be too hard on his leg and he would become a liability. 

So Jyn was here alone, to meet a reclusive contact for information on high-quality bacta stores in the local governor’s mansion. And Cassian was on a ship on the other side of the mountain, ready to swoop in and pick her up if things went sideways, although it would blow both of their covers. 

But they were connected at all times through their comms and if she was being totally honest, it was driving Jyn a little insane. It wasn’t their first mission together, but if she didn’t know better she’d say Cassian was having separation anxiety. He was asking her to check in _constantly_ , and kept reminding her of the obvious. 

“Remember to buy souvenirs at the market. You’re supposed to look like a tourist.” 

“Don’t leave the main thoroughfare, you’ll look like you’re snooping around.”

“Sweep your room for bugs when you get back.” 

That last one _really_ pissed her off– as if she hadn’t been doing that since she was seventeen– and as punishment she turned off her comm for ten minutes. 

He didn’t scold her when she turned it back on, but she could _feel_ his anger in the cold silence that followed. 

Well it served him right. She was fed up to her ears with his controlling bantha-shit attitude and they couldn’t very well shout about it over a line she was only 90% sure was secure. 

She was sure they’d have it out once she was back on the ship with their intel, but until then… 

She took another swallow of the disgusting tea. Just a few more hours. Aldir Teff was due to show up at the cafe across from her hotel in twenty minutes– she would meet him, get the intel, then get the fark out of this Force-forsaken town.

“ _Check in–”_

“Target still not in sight,” she said (again) through her teeth. Dear Force, when would it stop? How did it still feel like Cassian was breathing down her neck when he was literally 16 klicks away and on the other side of a _mountain_. 

Cassian didn’t respond, and they lapsed into another tense silence. 

Jyn finished her tea and began fiddling with the empty mug, rolling it back and forth on the table, listening to the dull knock of the handle on the wood as her eyes stayed trained on the cafe. 

It’s not like she minded working with Cassian in general– they’d been on plenty of successful, argument-free (or, argument-light) missions. In general, they worked well together and she enjoyed having someone like him at her back, someone she trusted absolutely. 

Normally, she felt like he trusted her to do the same, it was just _this mission_ that was making her feel like a totally green recruit all over again. Did he think she couldn’t operate alone? Didn’t he trust her not to screw up? 

She wasn’t used to all this self-doubt, and when she thought about it, she was _furious_ with Cassian for causing it. And with herself, for caring this much what he thought of her. 

She rolled the mug too hard and it slid off the table. It fell to the floor with a _thunk_ and broke cleanly into three pieces. 

“Kriff.”

_“What is it? What happened? Check in–”_

“I’m fine, everything’s fine. We’re all fine,” Jyn said as she picked up the pieces. The motel would bill the room for it, but whatever. She was pretty sure the Alliance was using a bad credit line, anyway. 

“ _Are you sure–”_

“ _Yes,_ I’m sure.” _Stop fucking doubting me._ She sat at the table again and pressed a hand to her temple, staring out the window again and trying to focus. Any minute now…

“ _Is–_ ” 

“Target in sight.” Jyn spotted Teff, a sweaty, middle-aged human, puttering nervously at the entrance to the cafe. _Just go in, you nerfherder, you’re drawing attention to yourself_. 

She pushed back from the table, threw her bag over her shoulder in case she had to run after this was done, and raced down the stairs of the motel. 

Altogether, she only lost sight of Teff for a minute or two, but by the time she reached the street, his eyes were wide with fear and she saw three of the governor’s lackeys marching towards him. 

He ran, and the enforcers gave chase. Jyn cursed and tried to follow them, although she couldn’t run outright without making herself look suspicious. 

Cassian was going crazy in her ear. “ _What happened? What’s going on? Where are you?_ ” 

“Interference,” she muttered. “In pursuit.” 

Unable to run, she lost them quickly and began cutting through alleys. Teff kept a boat on the lake and like an idiot, he was probably leading the governor right to it. If she was lucky, she could head them off. 

But her chosen network of alleys dumped her farther from the docks than she anticipated. By the time she reached the marina where Teff kept his boat, it was already half underwater and the governor’s henchmen had cleared the scene. 

Jyn ran towards the sinking boat. She’d just missed them– there had to be a way she could salvage this. (For the intel, of course, but also to prove once and for all to Cassian that she _could_ do this on her own.) 

Cassian… who was still in her ear, demanding to know what was going on. Jyn waited until she was on the floating docks and well among the boats to speak. She was alone here– most of the sentients in town knew better than to interfere with a hit from the governor. 

“Target cornered on his boat, I’m inspecting for damage.” She leaned over the wreckage, desperately scanning for any sign of Teff. 

“ _Get him out if you possibly can– he’s our only in with the governor._ ”

Jyn felt her her teeth clench. “Wow, really? I didn’t realize that! I guess if our guy ends up dead this whole thing would’ve been a bust, wouldn’t it?”

“ _Okay, I’m s–_ ”

“Shit, there he is!”

Teff must’ve jumped some distance as the boat was sinking, because he was at least a meter from the wreck and four from the dock. He was struggling to keep his head above water, making choked cries for help as water got into his mouth. 

“ _Can you reach him?_ ” 

“No, I’m going in.” Before he could say anything else, Jyn turned off her comm and tucked it into a pocket of her vest. Then she left the vest, her shirt, bag, and boots in a pile on the dock and dove in headfirst after Teff. 

His head had just dipped below the surface for the last time, but he was sinking fast and she had to reach over a meter below the surface to grasp his jacket. 

Her lungs burning, she dragged him back to the dock and hauled him out. He wasn’t a particularly large man, but he was dead weight and his clothes were soaked in water. 

Panting, she searched through her vest and stuck the comm back in her ear, at the same time feeling for a pulse. “Fuck, he’s not breathing.” She put her hands together and positioned herself kneeling over his chest

“ _Do you know CPR?_ ” 

Jyn felt another burst of irritation. “No, Captain, I have no idea how to do CPR. Must’ve missed that on the _first day of junior officer training_.”

Cassian stopped talking then– or she just couldn’t hear him through the blood ringing through her ears as she placed her palms on Teff’s silent heart, locked her elbows, and slammed her hands into his chest. 

She braced her nerves against the feel of his ribs buckling beneath her fingers, but counted a steady beat to 120 and tried not to gag as she leaned over to deliver two rescue breaths. 

It took two rounds before he gagged and started coughing up lake water. She turned him over on his side with the last of her strength and caught her breath until he could speak. 

“Who are you?” 

“Sergeant Erso,” she said. Screw their cover, Teff was dead if she left him like this and there was no way he was getting over the mountain. To Cassian, she said, “We’re going to need a lift out of here, preferably in the form of a net.”

“ _Copy_. _Extraction in 3_.”

“Copy.” She turned back to Teff. “We’re getting you out of here. You’re welcome for saving your life, by the way. As thanks you can tell us how to get into the governor’s mansion.”

“Deal.” Teff tried to sit up and groaned. “Why do my ribs hurt so much?”

“Don’t move– they’re all broken. That’s how CPR works, you laserbrain.”

* * *

Cassian didn’t speak as Jyn and Teff were hauled into the U-wing cargo hold in a net like so much fish. At first it was because he was dodging the shots from the city’s turrets, triggered by the unauthorized aircraft in the valley, but as they left Ord Mantell’s atmosphere and jumped into hyperspace, Jyn felt it become something different. 

Once she’d changed into dry clothes and Teff was treated with bacta, stabilizers, a round of antibiotics, and strapped to a bunk, Jyn finally joined Cassian in the cockpit. 

They watched hyperspace in silence for several minutes until he spoke. “Do you think he’ll talk?”

She snorted. “If he doesn’t sing like an ivuur after what I did for him I’m killing him myself.”

Cassian nodded. “That sounds fair.”

They fell silent again. 

Jyn crossed her arms and waited. 

He sighed and pushed a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry for the… micromanagement.” 

“You sure?” 

He frowned. “Of course. I trust you, Jyn.” 

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“Look.” He turned to face her. “I wasn’t trying to tell you what to do. I was just…”

“Trying to tell me what _you_ would do?”

“ _No_.” He turned away again, frustrated. “Shit, Jyn, I was just worried about you.”

“Why were you–”

“Because I’m _always_ worried about you, Jyn.”

“Why–”

“It’s not for any good reason, okay?” He still wasn’t looking at her, instead staring at his hands… almost like he was _nervous_. “I just am.” 

She watched him fiddle with his harness, undone and limp in his lap, and all the fight left her. “Oh.”

“But next time, I promise I’ll be less… on top of you.” 

She blinked and he flushed when he realized his choice of words. 

“I mean less– you know what I mean. I’ll trust you.” He shook his head and made to stand. “I’m sorry, I should–”

“Wait.” She caught his hand as he braced himself on the pilot’s seat. “ _Next time_ , I’ll make sure you’re there with me.”

He actually smiled at that, although he ducked his head so it was hard to see. She wished he wouldn’t do that. He had a nice smile. 

“Thank you,” he murmured. 

“Of course.” She leaned around to watch him walk towards the back of the ship, and then he glanced behind him. 

She whipped her head around to stare again at hyperspace, hiding her smile behind her hand even though no one could be watching. 

Sure, he’d caught her staring, but he was looking too.

**Author's Note:**

> [Original Tumblr Post](https://cats-and-metersticks.tumblr.com/post/179355950520/i-have-no-idea-how-to-do-cpr-rebelcaptain)
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!! 
> 
> I will submit my usual disclaimer that I'm not a doctor and have never done CPR on anything but a dummy, but in my defense I did write this soon after completing first aid training for my job and am technically CPR certified.
> 
> For more prompt fics and cat pics, plus a *mystery event* to be announced after Christmas– I'm on tumblr as [cats-and-metersticks](https://cats-and-metersticks.tumblr.com/) :)


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